arc2 · 092-ch92

Chapter 92: Let's Grind for EXP

So I had Asahi enchanted with the wind attribute, and it turned out way more amazing than I expected. With this, I might be able to take down F-rank—no, maybe even E-rank monsters! I could barely contain my excitement as I made my way toward the Mount Fuji Dungeon at full speed.

It seems my Asahi has become pretty well-known among the Dungeon Association staff too—when I enter the dungeon, the person at the desk even salutes me.

Anyway, this dungeon is a huge cavern. It's the first dungeon I ever entered, and it's also where Himehana and I tested whether we could take down monsters using Hayate. There should be slimes here. I'll test out Asahi's Wind Blade Wall on a slime first.

I headed toward the small room at the end of the passage, just like before. As expected, there was one slime floating in the middle of that small room.

I summoned Hayate as well, and took on the slime with both drones.

First, I brought Hayate close to the slime to observe its movements. As you'd expect from an F-rank monster, its movements are slow. However, if you get too close, it'll suddenly hop or stretch out toward you, so you gotta be careful.

Its attack methods seem to be body charges and clinging onto things to suffocate them. If it managed to cling to Asahi, that'd be pretty annoying. I'm not sure if slimes even have a front or back, but while the slime was slowly inching toward Hayate, I brought Asahi in from behind it.

(Okay, now—Wind Blade Wall... Dangerous!)

That was close. The moment Asahi got close, part of the slime's body stretched out and almost wrapped around it. I quickly ascended to avoid it, so we're fine—but do slimes not have any concept of front or back? In that case... I'll try approaching with Asahi the moment Hayate gets close and attacks.

Once again, I had Hayate and Asahi flanking the slime, and this time I brought Hayate close to the slime. I know the distance at which the slime reacts from the previous attack. I brought Hayate close enough until...

(Here!)

I dodged right as the slime stretched out its body, and brought Asahi in from behind.

(Wind Blade Wall!)

By sending my magic power to Asahi, small tornadoes formed around it. It consumes 1 MP per second to maintain. But thanks to that, the slime's body got sliced up by the small tornadoes.

Boing!

After slicing off about a quarter of the slime's body, the slime lunged at Asahi, so I pulled back to avoid it. Then I immediately advanced and sliced through the slime's body as we passed each other.

Next, I tried ramming the slime with Hayate, which had descended from above. Last time it didn't work at all, but this time, since part of the slime's body had been sliced off, I hit it with momentum from above...

Splat!

This time, a third of the slime's body burst apart. As I pressed the attack, I brought Asahi, wrapped in Wind Blade Wall, close to it.

【You defeated the slime】

Ohh, I did it! Hayate's durability decreased a little, but I managed to defeat the slime without destroying either drone. That's definitely a huge improvement. But this fighting style is pretty exhausting. You need to pay close attention to avoid the slime's hard-to-predict attacks. Monsters with clearer blind spots might be easier.

With that in mind, I headed toward the stairs to go down to the second floor. I saw a few parties along the way, but since no one called out to me, I kept moving forward. Thanks to the map, I made it straight to the second floor without getting lost.

(There should be goblins on this floor, right. Two or more would be tough, so I'll look for a stray goblin.)

Flying just below the cavern ceiling, I advanced while observing the wide passage. Eventually, I came to a fairly open space. The ceiling was high too, so I raised my altitude first and searched for prey from above.

There were several parties fighting at a distance. I moved to stay away from them and finally found a single goblin.

Asahi's engine noise is pretty loud, so it's not great for sneak attacks. So this time, I deliberately brought Asahi in front of the goblin while approaching with Hayate from behind. The goblin swung its club trying to hit Asahi, but Asahi moved quickly and easily dodged it.

Then, I had Hayate charge into the goblin's back while it was focused on attacking.

Thud!

The goblin was suddenly hit from behind and pitched forward, but it stuck one foot out to steady itself and avoided falling. It turned around and swung its club down. But Hayate was already gone.

(Now! Wind Blade Wall!)

While the goblin's eyes were turned away, Asahi, wrapped in Wind Blade Wall, dove at its feet.

Gargargal!

One of the goblin's legs got minced into small pieces, and green blood sprayed everywhere. Because of that, the goblin's knee buckled.

(Go, Hayate!)

This time, I had Hayate charge into the goblin's right hand, the one holding the club.

Thud!

Unable to withstand the impact, the goblin dropped its club. This time, I brought Asahi close, targeting its neck.

Splurt!

I did manage to wound it, but the goblin staggered away and ran off, so it ended up being just a shallow cut.

"Gyagyaaaaaa!"

The furious goblin picked up a nearby stone and threw it at me. But there was no way I'd get hit by something like that—instead, I had Hayate pick up a slightly larger stone, stored it, and dropped it from directly above.

Thud!

The stone perfectly hit the goblin's head. Since it was a stone picked up in the dungeon, it seems it was able to deal a little damage.

After that, I whittled down the goblin's health by having Hayate and Asahi trade attacks, and after about thirty minutes since the battle started, the goblin was finally defeated.

【You defeated the goblin】

(Ohh, I was able to defeat it faster than last time! And being able to take it down without destroying Hayate is a big deal!)

Feeling pretty good about myself, I looked for the next target while storing some larger stones I found inside the dungeon. It seemed pretty effective when dropped from above. But I couldn't store rocks that were too big. I learned here that there's a limit to what size I can store. Still, that's fine—it's still a useful skill for sure. I went back to searching for stray goblins.